


More Epic With Each Retelling

by kosmonauttihai



Series: Inconsonant Conversations [3]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Dueling the Arishok, Multi, Nonbinary Hawke (Dragon Age), Unreliable Narrator (At His More Reliable), collaborative Hawkesaving, everybody loves Hawke and nobody is fine until Hawke is too, handholding because of reasons and also just because, includes some gory details about battle wounds and blood magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 05:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16825639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kosmonauttihai/pseuds/kosmonauttihai
Summary: Varric gathers his thoughts on Hawke's duel with the Arishok.Part of the same worldstate asInconsonant Conversations, but can be read independently of it.





	More Epic With Each Retelling

**Author's Note:**

> Hawke and Anders both use they/them pronouns.

It's up there with the look in Bartrand's eyes when Blondie managed to bring him back to himself for a bit as one of the worst things I've seen, Hawke taking on the Arishok in single combat.

Can't have been an easy decision for Hawke, either, they'd always kind of liked the guy. You know, respect for one of the few people in the city who hate its corruption as much as they do, that kind of thing. What Kirkwall ever did to deserve Hawke making their nest here (note to self: definitely use that and more bird metaphors, but more poetic or some shit, when I write about them), who knows, but I'm grateful our paths crossed all the same.  
  
So you can imagine it wasn't easy for us who love Hawke as much as we all do to watch the fight, unable to do anything to help. Don't think I've ever seen Isabela that scared before. It took no small amount of courage what she'd just done, herself, but I'm sure she'd expected to take on the consequences herself, too.

I think Hawke would have volunteered to champion for her even if the Arishok had let Isabela duel him, though. Pretty sure Daisy would have been next in line if Hawke had been refused, and if you ask me (and who else would you ask?), I think she wouldn't have given two shits about whether the Qun approves. She's like that, Hawke's like that, and, well, love's like that.  
  
The fight itself was more suspense than fight-fighting, two mighty fighters circling each other, waiting for the right moment to ~~fight~~ strike. And circle they did, for a good half an hour, by the time something finally happened and it was over in one swing of swords. Both chose the exact same time for their surprise attack, can you believe it!  
  
Hawke's blade went through the Arishok's throat. A well aimed stab, and a messy but quick enough death. By shit luck they also caught the Arishok's ridiculously sized even by Fenris standards sword through the middle of their torso. Just as messy, and had Hawke been alone, just as quick a death.  
  
Blondie was at their side on the floor practically before Hawke had stopped falling down (or sliding down the length of the sword as it fell from the Arishok's hand, you know what, sometimes even a writer tries not to remember details), hands all glowy and giving no fucks about the audience. They might as well have shouted 'make way, I'm a healer!' as they ran over, and had anyone actually been in their way they might have.  
  
Not ten seconds had passed when the glow fizzed out and Blondie let out a string of words that might have been a spell, or probably a curse in Ander, more consonants than a single sentence has any right to possess in any case. The fight to reach the Keep had been tough, and mages need recharging. Apparently even, well, special cases.

But they'd barely gotten the panicked look on their face, realizing their pockets were short on lyrium potions, when a hand was thrust in their face palm up. Fenris lit up his markings as they stared, and then with that hand grasped tightly in one of their own they got back to healing, little winces from the elf getting concerned glances but no pause to the work they both deemed worth some pain.  
  
Problem was, Hawke was bleeding out faster than even the most skilled healer could patch them together.

But then there was Merrill, kneeling next to them ready to use her own blood to save Hawke's, and no one was going to object given the circumstances. Anders still made sure to emphasize the 'healer' when they said it was good to have a fellow healer along since, you know, center of the attention and the Knight-Commander in the audience, ready to declare that the title of Champion would go to someone living to use it (by which I mean herself, she'd find a way to justify it). The First Enchanter made sure to comment her healing was impressively standard once Daisy got to work.  
  
Before she could do anything, though, Isabela must have noticed how much her hands were shaking and the many cuts she had already made on herself during the earlier battle. She's a tough girl, our Daisy, but she was teetering on the edge of having lost a dangerous amount of blood, herself. In no time, Fenris got company on his side of Hawke, with Isabela kneeling next to him and reaching to take one of Merrill's hands in hers. It was quick and you had to have a keen eye to notice the trickle of blood from between their clasped hands and a knife slipped back in Isabela's pocket, so if anyone asks, she was there just for moral support. If Fenris's free hand finding hers to hold wasn't just to make that more convincing, I'm going to be nice and for once not ask.  
  
It would have been just like Hawke to regain consciousness when Isabela told them she hadn't come back for them just to watch them die, and say something suave, so if anyone asks, they did that, and we did not all nearly have heart attacks not knowing if they'll ever open their eyes again.  
  
Choir Boy was kneeling, too, praying, and sure, all the help we can get. At some point Blondie joined in, whispering as they healed, while Daisy muttered her own prayers in Elvish. To apparently his own surprise, too, Fenris recognized a phrase here and there in her prayer, and mouthed along what he knew, at other times doing so when recognizing repeating parts of the Andrastian prayer. Isabela was quietly repeating a single word, which a person with good memory and a dictionary would later discover to be Rivaini for 'please'.  
  
The crowd was by turns finding pillars to lean on where they could avoid looking at the scene, and inching closer to see what was going on, but the captain of the city guard lent authority to claims that everything would be alright and the situation was under control, please stay calm, whether or not she believed it herself. Any questions and wild theories about what was going on and how could Hawke survive that by normal means were handled by a particularly handsome dwarf who had answers at the ready and a very reassuring demeanor.

No one suspected he was trying to reassure himself, so smooth he was. Shit, I sure hope I was.

  
  
Of course, if I ever tell this story to anyone else, dear diary, it'll go a little differently.


End file.
